Optimizing Your Mortgage Process: Authentic Communication with Clients

Your mortgage process refers to the path your clients take and their experience working with you to secure mortgage financing. How you communicate with your clients throughout the process will determine the quality of their experience. And the quality of their experience will determine if you grow your mortgage business through repeat clients and referrals or if you build a collection of 1 star Google Reviews. 

It may seem pretty straightforward, but your goal in every completed client interaction should be happy clients who tell everyone that you’re amazing at what you do! You achieve this through authentic communication.

Let's Talk About Messaging

You need to approach the mortgage process with your client’s perspective in mind. This begins with an understanding that your client is the hero of their own story. They have mortgage goals and homeownership dreams they want to realize. But to them, the process is a little scary and full of unknowns. And as the pressures from securing mortgage financing can be overwhelming, it’s understandable that tensions can run high, especially with tight timelines and financing deadlines. 

You need to be their guide. Your job is to bring calm to the situation and help them move towards achieving their goals. You do this by giving them a plan and walking through the mortgage process with them; never leave them guessing the next steps of your mortgage process. 

So as you build out your mortgage process, consider your messaging. Does everything you say and do bring clarity and guide your clients? 

It’s not about what you understand about the mortgage process; it’s about how well you’ve communicated what you know that will define the experience for your clients. Clients will only have a good experience if they feel like you’ve provided them with a clear plan and that you’ve walked the journey with them. 

With this in mind, I’d suggest it’s better to over communicate than leave your clients wanting more. But the problem with over-communicating is that it doesn’t scale. You don’t have time to personally answer all of your client's questions and walk them through every step of the process in a personal way. You need to leverage technology to assist you. Having a content marketing strategy and connecting with clients through a CRM and drip campaign is crucial as you build an efficient mortgage business.

Using mortgage content effectively  

To effectively communicate with your clients, you should have a bank of content that is readily accessible that answers the majority of their general questions and instructs them through the mortgage process. 

Your website is a great place to share educational content, bring clarity, and guide your clients. Start with a weekly updated blog that is shared socially. Not only does this make you accessible when a potential client is checking you out online, but the content is also valuable to educate your clients throughout the mortgage process. 

But just having the content on your website and sharing it socially isn’t enough. You need a plan to drive clients to that content at the point they require it. For example, if a client sends you a quick email asking about the difference between a deposit and a downpayment, do you send them a link to a blog post on your website that explains the difference, or do you take 10-15 mins and type out the reply in an email? 

Rather than reacting to each client and handling things as they come up, you need to invest in building the systems that will allow you to scale and drive growth in your mortgage business. And while it’s almost impossible to answer every client question with a blog post, if you continue to invest in your systems, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can build a resource bank. This will save you an incredible amount of time in the long run. 

As for the content medium, a written blog is a great place to start. A series of educational videos is next level, and a regular podcast or webinar series is going the distance. You can then break each piece of content into actionable social media posts. Creating and sharing content is an amazing way to build trust and rapport with your clients at every step of their journey.

Don't try to automate authenticity

Now, as you build systems to help automate your business, don’t be fooled into thinking you can automate authentic client communication. While the purpose of automation is to save you time, you don’t want to do this at the expense of appearing inauthentic to your clients. 

And while most of the pre-approval and approval processes are high in personal touchpoints, chances are you’re doing good here. For most mortgage professionals, It’s the long-term client interactions that require more attention and planning. Once your client is signed for a 5-year term, what is the plan to stay “top of mind”?

The key to authentic client communication is providing value; value is the litmus test for client communication. So as you’re setting up the systems to stay in touch with your post-fund clients, always consider your client's benefit from the interaction. The best systems are those where you both benefit and find value in the continued relationship. 

Instead of simply dropping your client’s name and email into a pre-programmed network CRM that sends out an annual birthday card and the occasional mortgage review, consider investing in a post-fund drip campaign that you've designed to nurture your relationships authentically. 

Instead of scheduling a series of generic emails to go out to your clients, consider scheduling tasks that trigger you to make a personal connection. This could be commenting on a Facebook post or Instagram story, sending them tickets to a local event, buying something from their business, or anything else that will connect with them and show them that you’re genuinely interested in having a relationship with them. 

To foster a long-term relationship beyond the first mortgage transaction, you need to ensure your clients know they’re more than just another file or deal on your desk. And in doing so, you’ll earn their trust, and they’ll be far more likely to refer everyone they know to work with you! 

In the next article of the series, we’ll discuss the idea that today's mortgage clients expect a digital mortgage experience. If you don’t give this to them, they will find someone who will.